The U.S. Navy christened the future USS Marinette (LCS-25) as the newest Freedom variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) during a 10:00 a.m. CST ceremony Saturday, November 20, in Marinette, Wisconsin.
The principal speaker was the Honorable Meredith Berger, Performing the Duties of the Under Secretary of the U.S. Navy. Additional speakers included Vice Admiral William Galinis, Commander, Naval Sea Systems Command; Rear Admiral Casey Moton, Program Executive Officer for Unmanned and Small Combatants; and the Honorable Steve Genisot, Mayor of Marinette, Wisconsin; and shipbuilders Steve Allen, Lockheed Martin Vice President of Small Combatants and Ship Systems, and Dario Deste, President and Chief Executive Officer of Fincantieri Marine Group. The ship’s sponsor, the Honorable Jennifer M. Granholm, broke a bottle of sparkling wine across the bow in a time-honored Navy tradition.
«The future USS Marinette (LCS-25) will be the second U.S. Navy ship honoring the important naval heritage and shipbuilding history the city of Marinette is known for», said Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro. «I have no doubt the Sailors of USS Marinette (LCS-25) will carry on the proud legacy from generations past and will stand ready to respond to any mission, wherever, and whenever, there is a need».
LCS is a fast, agile, mission-focused platform designed to operate in near-shore environments, winning against 21st-century coastal threats. The platform is capable of supporting forward presence, maritime security, sea control and deterrence.
The LCS class consists of two variants, the Freedom and the Independence, designed and built by two industry teams. Lockheed Martin leads the Freedom variant team, or odd-numbered hulls, in Marinette, Wisconsin. Austal USA leads the Independence variant team in Mobile, Alabama for USS Jackson (LCS-6) and the subsequent even-numbered hulls.
USS Marinette (LCS-25) is the 13th Freedom-variant LCS and 25th in the LCS class. It is the second ship named in honor of the city of Marinette, Wisconsin. The first Marinette (YTB-791), a Natick-class large fleet tugboat, was launched in 1967 and performed miscellaneous tugging services in the 5th Naval District, headquartered at Norfolk, Virginia.
Ship Design Specifications
| Hull | Advanced semiplaning steel monohull |
| Length Overall | 389 feet/118.6 m |
| Beam Overall | 57 feet/17.5 m |
| Draft | 13.5 feet/4.1 m |
| Full Load Displacement | Approximately 3,200 metric tons |
| Top Speed | Greater than 40 knots/46 mph/74 km/h |
| Range at top speed | 1,000 NM/1,151 miles/1,852 km |
| Range at cruise speed | 4,000 NM/4,603 miles/7,408 km |
| Watercraft Launch and Recovery | Up to Sea State 4 |
| Aircraft Launch and Recovery | Up to Sea State 5 |
| Propulsion | Combined diesel and gas turbine with steerable water jet propulsion |
| Power | 85 MW/113,600 horsepower |
| Hangar Space | Two MH-60 Romeo Helicopters |
| One MH-60 Romeo Helicopter and three Vertical Take-off and Land Tactical Unmanned Air Vehicles (VTUAVs) | |
| Core Crew | Less than 50 |
| Accommodations for 75 sailors provide higher sailor quality of life than current fleet | |
| Integrated Bridge System | Fully digital nautical charts are interfaced to ship sensors to support safe ship operation |
| Core Self-Defense Suite | Includes 3D air search radar |
| Electro-Optical/Infrared (EO/IR) gunfire control system | |
| Rolling-Airframe Missile Launching System | |
| 57-mm Main Gun | |
| Mine, Torpedo Detection | |
| Decoy Launching System |
Freedom-class
| Ship | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Homeport |
| USS Freedom (LCS-1) | 06-02-2005 | 09-23-2006 | 11-08-2008 | San Diego, California |
| USS Fort Worth (LCS-3) | 07-11-2009 | 12-07-2010 | 09-22-2012 | San Diego, California |
| USS Milwaukee (LCS-5) | 10-27-2011 | 12-18-2013 | 11-21-2015 | San Diego, California |
| USS Detroit (LCS-7) | 08-11-2012 | 10-18-2014 | 10-22-2016 | San Diego, California |
| USS Little Rock (LCS-9) | 06-27-2013 | 07-18-2015 | 12-16-2017 | San Diego, California |
| USS Sioux City (LCS-11) | 02-19-2014 | 01-30-2016 | 11-17-2018 | Mayport, Florida |
| USS Wichita (LCS-13) | 02-09-2015 | 09-17-2016 | 01-12-2019 | Mayport, Florida |
| USS Billings (LCS-15) | 11-02-2015 | 07-01-2017 | 08-03-2019 | Mayport, Florida |
| USS Indianapolis (LCS-17) | 07-18-2016 | 04-18-2018 | 10-26-2019 | Mayport, Florida |
| USS St. Louis (LCS-19) | 05-17-2017 | 12-15-2018 | 08-08-2020 | Mayport, Florida |
| USS Minneapolis/St. Paul (LCS-21) | 02-22-2018 | 06-15-2019 | ||
| USS Cooperstown (LCS-23) | 08-14-2018 | 01-19-2020 | ||
| USS Marinette (LCS-25) | 03-27-2019 | 10-31-2020 | ||
| USS Nantucket (LCS-27) | 10-09-2019 | 08-07-2021 | ||
| USS Beloit (LCS-29) | 07-22-2020 | |||
| USS Cleveland (LCS-31) | 06-20-2021 |